This holiday season the “best ever”!

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If you watch the ‘mainstream’ news, you have heard that this holiday ‘shopping’ season has been terrible. While at my parents house last week, the number that was repeated over and over was 8%. Retail sales were down 8% from last year. Anytime retail sales are down, it is bad, but only being down 8% doesn’t seem so bad to me. As a mathematician, I know the same set of statistics can be used to argue either side of an argument, and since the only number that was listed was 8%, I am just a little bit skeptical, especially based on the information that is being stated with regard to Amazon.com.

Amazon says 2008 holiday season was ‘best ever’ . As you read the article you will see some positive data, but to be honest I can’t recall seeing or hearing anything positive about the economy for quite some time. Is it me, or does it seem the media is trying very hard to control our economic attitude?